My first home visit will be July 1st. FINALLY! My application apparently arrived to the private agency I'm transferring to at a bad time -- they had just moved to a new office plus were switching over to a new computer program -- but I ultimately contacted the supervisor and now she seems to be putting pressure on the social workers to get my home study done ASAP. There's no chance at this point of me getting a placement before the new school year starts, but hopefully the home study will at least be approved by the end of the summer.

I'm still focused on one 11-year-old boy who is listed on the agency's website (and who, based on the supervisor's response to my initial inquiry, is still available), so I really want to get the home study done ASAP so I can finally find out if we are a match.

You mention you don't think you could have a placement by school-start? I wouldn't be so sure. Stranger things have happened---especially if this young boy is still available and has been waiting for some time.....

Sincerely,

Linny

_________________There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child - and an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own. ~Robert Brault

I'm still not done with my home study yet, but my case worker was able to give me more info on the kid I was interested in, and his issues are beyond what I could handle as a single parent. I think I'm just gonna stop looking at the websites until after my home study is done.

My next home visit is Aug. 18th, which may or may not be the last one. I did find out the agency has an infant adoption program that I could actually afford, so I'm going to be open to either program (foster care adoption or infant adoption). There's no upfront cost with the infant adoption program (full fee due at placement), so I figured I might as well keep my options open.

You may find that most of the waiting children have issues that will be extremely time-consuming and tough to deal with (BTDT). I think your option of infant adoption is a great one! We've had a few single moms here who've shared their stories of waiting and dealing with parenting as a single one.

KEEP US UPDATED!

Sincerely,

Linny

_________________There is an instinct in a woman to love most her own child - and an instinct to make any child who needs her love, her own. ~Robert Brault

Thanks Linny! I do plan to ask my caseworker more about the infant program. It is exclusively for minority and mixed-race babies, but that's all I know. It's not advertised on their website, so I suspect it's relatively small. Still, I'll work on building my savings during this time just in case, since a baby would me more challenging financially. I know one single mom in California who was working with an agency that did both foster care and infant, and she ended up getting an already-born baby. I'll admit to being a little jealous, bit I also know I would be content with an older child if it's a good match. I probably will add the qualifier that the kid can't be in higher than 5th grade at time of placement, as that will make finding child care much easier. The after-school programs allow up to age 12, but I doubt they'd be eager to take a middle-schooler.

Hi, I just thought of this site after answering a question from someone who is trying to adopt, and I figured I'd update in case anyone was curious what happened to me. After getting a whole lotta nowhere with trying to get a home study done (the last case worker said she couldn't recommend me for approval, mainly because she felt my apartment was too small, but she was also clearly biased against single moms), I ultimately decided to pursue artificial insemination, and I now have a 6 month old daughter. At this point I don't plan on having another child (biologically or by adoption), as I've always pictured myself having just one child and feel content with our little family. I'm giving myself until she's 2 years old before I'll make the final decision, though.